“Yeah. I’m supposed to be doing a job for him today, and he came to get me, but when he saw what was happening, he said he’d come back some other time.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“Only that he was going away for a while, but hopefully, he’ll get a chance to meet the baby if we’re ever in Italy in the future.”
“Did he say anything about me?”
“Not a word. Sorry.”
“It’s all right. Is Catherine okay?”
“She’s fine. They’re monitoring her at the moment, but the baby will likely be here by the end of today. I can’t wait for her to arrive, not now we’ve got the money to look after her properly. I can’t thank you enough, Bex. I really can’t.”
Catherine shouts in the background. “Thank you so much, hun.”
“You’re both welcome. Listen, I’ve got a thing to do this morning, but I’ll come and visit you afterward.”
“Don’t worry too much. There’s a lot of waiting around going on here. I’ll give you a call when it all goes down if you like?”
“Please do.”
I hang up and sum things up to Ursula.
She crosses her fingers. “They’ll be all right,” she says. “They’re in good hands. If you weren’t going to take the money, there are worse people you could have given it to.”
“I didn’t give it to them. I just told Toby I wasn’t going to take the check, but he could give it to them if he wanted.”
“You sound angry.”
“I am. He can’t answer the phone to me, but he’s got time to go see Catherine? I swear, I’m becoming a nun. No more relationships, especially not with Italian douchebags who escape custody and run away from their problems.”
“So what do we do with our free morning?”
“According to Hunter’s lawyer, Augustine Lombardi signed the paperwork firing everyone.”
“So?”
“I’m going to see if I can persuade him to change his mind.”
53
Bex
* * *
“You wished to speak to me?”
Augustine is sitting in a leather armchair, a cigar next to him smoldering in an ashtray. “Mind if I sit down?”
“Of course.” He motions toward a butler over by the door. “Bring her a drink.”
I turn to the butler. “Just water will be fine.”
The man leaves, closing the door behind him. “Nice place,” I say. “Have to confess, I’ve never been inside a private club before.”
“It’s my last visit before I travel to Rome. I doubt I’ll see the place after today.” He looks around him. “If these walls could talk, they’d have a lot of stories to share, not all of them good.” His eyes grow misty as he turns back to face me. “I’m not long for this world, Bex.”
“You look okay to me.”